Signature gathering machine



April 28, 1953 v ACKLEY 2,636,728

SIGNATURE GATHERING MACHINE Filed Aug. 1, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l NINVENTOR. Q 509m and E. flki y R BY 43% ,immdffm April 28, 1953 R. E.ACKLEY 2,636,728

SIGNATURE GATHERING MACHINE Filed Aug. 1, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet. 2

JNVENTOR. fiaymwzd flAd/t lay I BY R; E. ACKLEY SIGNATURE GATHERINGMACHINE April 28, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 1, 1950 INVENTOR.Eaymond E. flak 7e Patented Apr. 28, 1953 SIGNATURE e- THEa No MACHINERaymo E? Ach ev nstom, II. a si nor to E Hal h t ng Comp ny Chi ago, lita.

oorporati oi l l n Application August 1, 1950, Serial No. 177,672

means; (01. zia sso keyed on a shattfor common pivotal movement betweentheir respective. hoppers and the (2011-. veyor,;each swinging arm'beingprovidedat its. free end with a. set, of grippin laws which act toengage and withdraw the bottom signature. from its respective. pile ofsignatures. and to .de-. liver same.- onto the. conveyor. As theconveyor noveslpast the several hoppersa signature .is successivelywithdrawn and delivered from each, hopper and onto the oonveyor to forma. complete set. of signatures. for delivery to a. bindingapparatus.

) As feathering machines employed to gather signatures for books andmagazines are. often quitelyextensive in length and provided with arelatively large. numberofpswinging arms move. mg unison toward and awayfrom theirree. speotive hoppers, the arm actuating mechanism is thussubjected to severewearand strain during each? reversal of movement of.the. swinging arms.

Thepresentinvention contemplates the provision I 1 of a igatheringmachine embodying a. pluralitnor similar sections secured together inend-towncl: relation with each. section having, for example, a set: ofIZQsWinging arms and individual arm ac tea-ting mechanisms. to swing.its respective set of arms in unison. To, reduce wear and strain ofthelarm actuatin mechanism and to provide. a. more balanced conditionof. the arms through: out the length. oflagatherina machinaeach set Oi-arms is dispos d at a different re n-t inthe swine-cycle. For example;a gatherin mooihme embodying four Sections, two sets oi arms would bedisposed atoonosite ends. of the. swing ovclewhile the o her twosets of:arms w u d; be disposed at. a medial point. in the swing cycle.

:Iior movement n opposite directions. The fo r 'se'tsof arms.arerequid-istantly positioned at. dif-.

"fere'nt. points throughout the swing cycle by. promachines embodyingseveral sections, the. cranks or the several sections are equidistant-1vspaced about the axis of the crankshaft toohusprovide airame l 2 amore.balanced condition or the swinging andithe. arm actuating mechanism.

invention embodies. other novel features. details. or construction andarran ement; or parts which. are. hereinafter set: forth in the;soecifica,-.-. tion and claims, and illustrated. the enemies panningdrawingslwhereinz,

Fi s 1. a. fra men ary front eleva onal view of a si na ure gatheringmachine empodrine ieae tunes; of the pre ent, invention"! E1832: a.transversesect onali view taken along; thol ine fir-2 orfi'ig. 1...

Big... 3: is a schematic front elevational view Hm lus oting; the.relative position of the. cranks and; swin n arms of: a. four section.gathering mas some.

Erase, 5", 6 and 7- arosohematic transverse; sees tional. views.- talrenalong the. lines. 4:-.-.4., Sgt-.5 E3161 and: 1 =='F, respectively, of:Big

Referring now to the drawings for as better understandin of the presentinvention, theoathoilin machine shown as. comprising four- Sim-i1: larsections A,..B:. C. and mindicatedschemati-i ally in Figs, 31 to. 7,.joined together to gather si natures in succession. and in: proper orderto form books; As; heretofore nointedout, anvnuimberof sections may bejoined toge her; depend ing; upon the number. of: signatures to begathered to form a. book and the following: description or one sec ion.applies to; the. other sections The h rin m hin comorises: generally a.drive shaft; iou nolod at. paced: intervals alon a d dapt d. to drive anendless eonveyor lla by any s it ble power tr nsmission means; (not The:ndless. conveyor @35- int rva s alo g. the. bac of. the; machine to bewith a stationary part of the machine. The suction cups are so disposedthat when the structure just described is rocked on the hinges 21-21 ina counterclockwise directionjin Fig. 2, the

cups pass upwardly through the aperturein the plate l9 and engage forforward edge portion of the bottom signature, and when rocked in theopposite direction will draw this forward edge portion of the signaturedown through the outlet of the hopper.

The means shown for actuating the. suction feed mechanism comprises alink 28 pivotally connected at one end, at 29, with the members 26-26and at its opposite end with the upper end of an arm 30 rigidly securedto a rock shaft 3| journaled in the frame of the machine and having anarm 32 rigid therewith. A roller 33 is journaled on the arm 32 forengagement with a cam 34 keyed to the drive shaft 9.

The gripper feed mechanisms referred to, one of which is provided forfeeding the signatures from each of the piles to position them againstthe stop wall I4, each comprises a gripper arm 35 keyed on a rock shaft36 journaled in the frame of the machine, the rock shaft being shown asformed of two longitudinally aligned sections spaced apart (see Fig. 1).The gripper arm 35 is provided at its lower end with a rigid gripper jaw31 and a movable gripper jaw 38 journaled on a pin 40.

Each of the several sections A, B, C and D of thegathering machine isprovided with a rocker mechanism for swinging the several gripper arms35 embodied in the section. The rocker mechanism is shown as comprisinga pair of arms 4| and 42 keyed to adjacent ends of the shaft sections 36and connected together at their outer ends by a shaft 43. A pitman 44 ispivotally connected at its upper endto the shaft 43 and is journaled atits lower end on a crank 45 formed on the drive shaft 9.

The mechanism for actuating the movable jaw 38 comprises a connectinglink 46 pivotally connected at its lower end to said jaw and at itsupper end to one end of a rocker arm 48 pivotally mounted at 49 on abracket 50 carried by the gripper arm 35. A connecting link 52 ispivotally connected at 5! to the rocker arm 48 and has its upper endpivoted at 53 on an arm 54 keyed to a shaft 55 which, in turn, isjournaled in a pair of stationary bracket arms 5656. A sleeve 51 issecured to the shaft 55 and provided with an arm 58.which is pivotallyconnected at 59 to the upper end of a link 60. The lower end of the link60 is pivotally connected at 6| to the upper end of a link 62 and alsoto an arm 63 keyed formed on the sleeve and provided with a roller 1.!for engagement against a cam 12 keyed to the shaft 9. The cams 34 and 12are so shaped and angularly positionedabout the shaft 9 that '4 as thearm 35 swings to its inner position adjacent the hopper l 8 the movablejaw 38 is pivoted upwardly to clamp the forward edge portion of asignature against the fixed jaw 31. As the arm 35 swings toward itsouter position, as shown in Fig. 2, the movable jaw 38 is pivoted awayfrom the jaw 31 to discharge the signature ontothe conveyor ll.

As heretofore pointed out, Figs. land 2 in the drawings illustrate asingle section of a conventional gathering machine embodying, forexample 8, 10,12 or more gripper arms 35 pivotally movable in unisonbetween the hoppers l8 and the conveyor l l responsive to rotationalmovement of the crank 45. In the construction of gathering machinesembodying, for example, 60

or more gripper arms, it has heretofore been the practice to placeseveral individual sections in end-to-end relation along a conveyor andto pivot the gripper arms of the several sections in unison between thehoppers I8 and conveyor H. It will thus be appreciated that thesimultaneous reversal of pivotal movement of 50 or more gripper armsproduces an unbalanced condition and excessive strain and wearthroughout the machine.

In order to balance .the several sections embodied in relatively longgathering machines, the present invention contemplates having thegripping arms of the several sections disposed in different positions inthe swing cycle. For example, as illustrated schematically in Figs. 3 to7 in the drawings, a gathering machine is shown as comprising fourindividual sections A, B, C and D disposed in 'end-to-end relation andhaving a common crank shaft 9 provided'with four cranks 45, 45a, 45b and450 radially spaced. apart about the axis of the crank shaft.

As illustrated in Fig. 4, the first section A of the gathering machineembodies a plurality of gripper arms 35 keyed to shafts 36 and pivotedback and forth responsive to rotational movement of the crank 45, thearms being-disposed at the inner end of their swing cycle adjacent theirhoppers l8. Fig. 5 illustrates the second section B of the machine inwhich the gripper arms 35a are keyed to shafts 36a and pivotedresponsive to rotational movement of the crank 45a, the arms beingdisposed at amedial position in their swing cycle and moving towardtheir respective hoppers [8a. Fig. 6 illustrates the third section ofthe gathering machine in which the gripper arms' 35b arekeyed to shafts36b and actuated responsive to rotational move-- ment of the crank 45b,the arms being disposedat the far end of their swing cycle from theirhoppers I8b. Fig. 7 illustrates the fourth section of the gatheringmachine in which gripper arms 350 are keyed to shafts 36c and swing backand forth responsive to rotational movement of the crank 450, the armsbeing disposed at a medial position in their swing cycle and moving awayfrom their respective hoppers I80.

It will thus be noted that the four sets .of gripper arms 35, 35a, 35band 350 are equidistantly spaced throughout the. swing cycle and. act

to counterbalance each. other to'reduce vibration, strain and wear. Inthe construction .of gathering machines embodying more or less than fourindividualsections, a crank is provided'for each section and the severalcranks are equally spaced about the axis of their common crank shaft tospace the several sets of gripper arms at equal distances from eachother throughout The gripperarms of large conventional gatherin machinesare equally spaced from each other throughout the length ,of the machineinorder to deliver each signature in proper position upon the conveyor lI. In the present invention the spacing between adjacent sets ofgripping arms mustbe increased or decreased due tothe fact that each setof arms is disposed in a. different position in the swing cycle. Forexample, in a gathering machine embodying four sections A, B, C andD,the gripping arms of sectionA precede the grip-ping arms of section Bone-fourth of a swing cycle. Therefore, the spacing between the last armof section A and the first arm of section B willb equal to the normalspacing of the arms less one-fourththe distance the conveyor I lmovesduring each swing cycle.

Itis essential to ,the operation of a gathering machine of the typedescribed, that the timing of the gripper arm swing have such a relationtothetiming of the conveyor chain that the sig, nature carried by thegripper arm be delivered to the conveyor between the carrier pinsmounted thereon. This relationship can be brought about in two distinctways: i

t 1, The timing of the swing of the grippers can be adjusted until thedesired relationship exists between gripper arm swingand carrier pintravel. With any timing of the swing of the gripper arm, the desiredrelationship can be obtained by aproper positioning of the arm or groupof arms along the conveyor chain. All possible relationships betweenthetiming of the conveyor carrier pins and the timing of the gripper armscan be exhausted by shifting a section or group of arms through adistance along the conveyor equal to thefcarrier pin spacing, whichcorresponds to one cycle of themachine, since the pins move through adistance equal to their spacing during one revolution of the machine.The carrier pin spacing is also the spacing of the signature containersor boxes, and of the gripperarms which remove signatures from theseboxes; but although it has hitherto been the custom to make the distancebetween the arms of successive groups also equal to the carrier pinspacing, I have found that this is unnecessary. After any desiredsetting of the gripperarm swing has been selected for anysection orgroup of arms, this section can be caused to deliver its signaturesbetween the carrier pins by suitably positioning the section along theconveyor chain. When this has been done, the distance between the lastgripper arm of one-section and the first arm of the adjacent followingsection may be equal to (as is now the practice) less than, or greaterthan the distance between gripper arms within the section, according tothe selection which has been made for the timing of the gripper armswing of the respective sections. That is, the swing of the arm can'bead} justed to suit the position of the arm with respect to the carrierpins, or the position of the arm can be adjusted to suit the swing.Either procedure brings about the sameresult.

It will be noted that with the revolution of the shaft 9 beingcounterclockwise; as indicated by arrows in Figs. 4-7 inclusive (inwhich the positions of the various sections of armsare shown as of thesame instant), gripper arm of group A has reached its maximum forwardposition, at which time the signaturecarried by the arm has beenpositioned between a pair of pins l2 on the conveyor ll. At this sameinstant, the arm 35a of group B is one-fourth of acycle behindarm 35. roup A m vem nt-.. trv h time; that arm- 3511 has reached theposition-cor; responding to that shown for arm 35 of group A, theconveyor chain will have advanced onefourth of the distance betweencarrier pins, at which time the gripper arm must be in the properposition to release its signature between the pins: In order to insurethis, the distance between the last .arm' of group A and the first armof group B must be made one-fourth less than the carrier pin spacing(which is also the spacing of the arms within each section).

,If the;direction of the arrows in Figs. 4-7 were reversed, .so thatshaft 9 would rotate clockwise, Fig. 5 would then represent the casewhere arm 35a has completed its outward movement, deposited itssignature between the carrier pins, and advanced one-fourth cycle in itsreturn trip to pick up another signature. From this it is evidentthat inorder to deliver a signature between carrierxpins, the swing of the armmust have been in proper relation to the travel of the carrier pinsone-fourth cycle earlier. To secure this condition, the distancebetweenthe last arm of group A and the first arm of group B would have to beone-fourth greater than the spacing of the arms within the sections.

The above also applies to the relations; between group B and grou C, andalso between group C and group D. i

Similar arrangements can be worked out for a different number ofsections than four. All possible arrangements can be covered, however,by the condition that a group of arms, whatever the timing of theirswing may be, can always be caused to deliver their signatures betweenthe carrier pins on the conveyor chain by suitably choosing the positionof the group with respect to the conveyor. 4

Since the purpose in view is to distribute the operating load about themachine cycle asuniformly as possible, the timing of the arms isarranged to leave an equal or substantially equal interval between theiroperation, and then the positions of the various sections is selected tocause all of the sections to deliver their signatures between thecarrier pins. I claim as my invention:

1. .In a signature gathering machine, a frame; an endless conveyorextending along the front side of the machine, a plurality of signaturehop--v pers disposed along the back side of the machine,-a plurality ofsignature gathering sections each including a group of gripper armsadapted to transfer signatures frorn'their respective hoppers to saidconveyor and then return to their respec-. tive hoppers to completea-swing cycle, a shaft having its group of arms keyed thereon for move-.ment in unison to simultaneously deliver a group of signatures to saidconveyor, an actuating arm keyed to said shaft, a crank, a connectingrod pivotally connected at its one end to said actuat ing arm andconnected at its other end to said crank, the cranks of the severalsections beingprovided on a, common crank shaft and disposed atdifferent angular positions about the axis of said shafibthe gripperarms of each section being out-of-phase with the arms of the adjacentsec-,. tions to distribute the operating load about the swing cycle.

2. In a signature gathering machine, a con-' veyor having equidistantlyspaced carrier pins mounted thereon, a plurality of signature gatheringsections disposed in end-to-end relationalong said conveyor andincluding a plurality of hoppers, each section havin a plurality of;

gripper'arms spaced apart a distance equal to the 'sp'acin'g'of saidcarrier pins and supported for swinging movement in unison tosimultaneously deliver a group of signatures from their respectivehoppers to said conveyor and then return 'to said hoppers to completethe swing cycle, and crank means to position the gripper arms of theseveral gathering sections in out-ofgripper arms spaced apart a distanceequal to the spacing of said carrier pins and supported for swingingmovement in unison to simultaneously deliver a group of signatures fromtheir respective hoppers to said conveyor and then return to saidhoppers to complete the swing cycle, a crankshaft extending alongtheseveral gathering sections, a plurality of cranks provided on saidshaft, said cranks being circumferentially spaced about the axis of saidshaft, the gripper arms 'of'each section being out-of-phase'with thegripper arms of the adjacent sections, and means connecting each crank tthe gripper arms of its respective gathering section, said sectionshaving their positions with respect to said conveyor predetermined tocause the gripper arms of the respective sections to deliver theirsignatures between the carrier pins mounted on said conveyor.

'4. In a signature gathering machine, a frame, a conveyor extendingalong the front side of the machine having equidistantly spaced carrierpins mounted thereon, a plurality of signature hoppers disposed alongthe back of the machine, a plurality of gathering sections eachincluding a group of gripper arms supported forswinging movement on saidframe to transfer signatures from their "respective hoppers to saidconveyor and then return to said hoppers to complete the swing cycle, anactuating mechanism provided l for each group of gripper arms,saidactuatin'g mechanisms being arranged to dispose each grou of gripperarms out-oi-phase with the arms of the adjacent sections throughout theswing cycle to provide a balanced machine, and

acommon drive means for said actuating mechanisms, the position of eachgroup of gripper arms with respect to said conveyor'beingpredetermined'to cause the gripper arms of each group to deliver theirsignatures between the carrier pins mounted on said conveyor. v '5, In asignature gathering machine, a'frame, a-conveyor extending along thefront side of the machine having equidistantly spaced carrier pinsmounted thereon, a plurality of signature hop-- pers disposed along theback of the machine, a plurality of gathering sections each including agroup of gripper arms supported for swinging movement on said frame totransfer signatures from their individual hoppers to said conveyor andthen return to said hoppers to complete the swing cycle, an actuatingmechanism provided for'each group of gripper arms, said actuatingmechanism including cranks arranged to dispose the several groups ofgripper arms at different relative positions in out-of-pha'serelationship throughout theswing cycle to provide a balanced machine,said cranks being provided with a com- 'mon drivemeans, and the positionof each group of gripper arms with respect to said conveyor beingpredetermined to cause the gripper arms-oi each group to delivertheir'signatures between the carrier pins mounted on said conveyor 6. masignature gathering machine, afra'me, an endless conveyor extendingalong} the front side of the machine having equidistantly spaced carrierpins mountedthereon, a'plu'rality of signature hoppers disposed alongthe back side of the machine, a plurality ofindividu'al: gatheringsections each including a group of swinging arms to transfer signaturesfrom their respective hopdistribute the operating pers to said conveyorand then return tosa'id hoppers to complete the swing cycle, aSha'fthaving its group of arms keyed thereon fo'rmovement-in unisontosimultaneously deliver a group of signatures to said-conveyor,an'actuating'arm keyed to said shaft, a crank, a connecting rodpivotally connected at its one end tosaid actuatingarm and connected atits other end to said crank, the cranks of the several individualsections being disposed'at different positions to dispose "the severalgroups of gripper arms in outof-phase'relationship throughout the swingcycle. and a common drive 111621181501 said cranks, said groups ofswinging arms having their positions with respect to said conveyorpredetermined to cause the arms of the respective groups to de? livertheir signatures between the carrier pins mounted on said conveyor.

7. Ina signature gathering machine, a movable conveyor to receive andsupport signatures for movement along the machine, a plurality ofindividual signature gatherin sections arranged in end-to-end relationalong one side of said conveyor, each section comprising a plurality ofs'ig'naturehoppers equally spacedalongsaid conveyor and a plurality ofgrip-per arms supported on a common axis for common pivotal movement tosimultaneously engage and transfer signatures from their respectivehoppers onto said conveyor and then return to their respec tive hoppersto complete a swing cycle, meansto move the conveyor and signaturesthereon a dis tanceequal to the distance between centers of adjacenthoppers of each gathering section'dur ing each swing cycle of thegripper arms, a crankshaft extending along the several "gatheringsections and including a crank for each section and connecting rodsconnecting th cranks to their respective gripper arms, the cranks andgripper arms of the several gathering sections being arranged indiiierent positions throughout the swing cycle in out-of-phaserelationship to load about the swing cycle.

8. In a signature gathering machine, a movable conveyor to receive andsupport signatures for movement along the machine, a-pluralityjof indievidual signature gathering sections arranged in end-to-end relationalong one side'of said conveyor, each section comprising a plurality ofsignature hoppers equally spaced along said con veyor and a plurality ofgripper arms supported on a common axis for common pivotal movement tosimultaneously engage and transfer signatures from theirrespectivehoppers onto said conveyor and then return to their respectivehoppers to complete a swing cycle, means to'move the conveyor andsignatures thereon a distance equal to the distance between centers ofadjacent hoppers of each gathering section during each swing cycle ofthe gripper arms, a crankshaft extending along the several gatheringsections and including a crank for each section and connecting rodsconnecting the cranks to their respective gripper arms, the cranks andgripper arms of each section being out-of-phase with the cranks andgripper arms of the adjacent sections whereby the operating load isdistributed about the swing cycle.

9. In a signature gathering machine, a movable conveyor to receive andsupport signatures for movement along the machine, a plurality ofindividual signature gathering sections arranged in end-to-end relationalong one side of said conveyor, each section comprising a plurality ofsignature hoppers equally spaced along said concrank for each sectionand connecting rods connecting the cranks to their respective gripperarms, the cranks and gripper arms of the several sections being inout-of-phase relationship at substantially equally spaced positionsthrough the swing cycle whereby the operating load is distributed aboutthe swing cycle.

10. In a signature gathering machine, a movable conveyor to receive andsupport signatures for movement along the machine, a plurality ofindividual signature gathering sections arranged in end-to-end relationalong one side of said con.- veyor, each section comprising a pluralityof signature hoppers equally spaced along said conveyor and a pluralityof gripper arms supported on a common axis for common pivotal movementto simultaneously engage and transfer signatures from their respectivehoppers onto said conveyor and then return to their respective hoppersto complete a swing cycle, means to move the conveyor and signaturesthereon a distance equal to the distance between centers of adjacenthoppers of each gathering section during each swing cycle of the gripperarms, a crankshaft extending along the several gathering sections andincluding a crank for each section and connecting rods connecting thecranks to their respective gripper arms, the cranks and gripper arms ofthe several sections being in out-of-phase relationship at substantiallyequally spaced positions through the swing cycle whereby the operatingload is distributed about the swing cycle, the distance between centersof the last hopper of one section and the first hopper of the adjacentsection in the line of travel of the conveyor being equal to thedistance the conveyor travels during movement of the gripper arm of saidfirst hopper to one point in the swing cycle after the gripper arm ofsaid last hopper is disposed at said one point.

RAYMOND E. ACKLEY' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,177,600 Bredenberg Apr. 4, 19161,442,059 Engstrom -1--- Jan. 16, 1923 1,713,218 Dufiie May 14, 19291,977.369 Ackley Oct. 16, 1934

